The Corner Shade Garden

One of my favorite little garden spots is the shade garden. It's nestled into a little corner created by the layout of our house. When I began gardening here I knew I wanted a shade garden somewhere but our options were extremely limited. Most of the yard was full sun back then, but that's changing. It's a slow process, adding trees and waiting for them to grow, so until I could cultivate some really good shade spots the corner shade garden was the best option. It gets morning sun and afternoon shade which is just right for most shade loving plants.

Plants in the Corner Shade Garden
  • Oak Leaf Hydrangea
  • Hosta 'Ginkgo Craig' 
  • Hosta 'Patriot' 
  • Hosta 'Unkown' - I have at least 3 varieties of Hosta 'Unkown'! 
  • Heuchera 'Silver Scrolls' 
  • Heuchera 'Palace Purple' 
  • Heuchera 'Midnight Rose' 
  • Heuchera 'Fireworks' 
  • Heuchera 'Mocha' 
  • Heucherella 'Stoplight' 
  • Hydrangea 'Lady in Red' 
  • Astilbe 
  • Japanese Painted Fern


    • The central focal point of this garden is the oak leaf hydrangea. It ranks up there as a joint number one and two with lacecap hydrangeas on my favorite hydrangea list. OK the list is purely figurative - I really don't have a list but if I did you can bet oak leaf hydrangeas would be at the top. It gets bigger each year which means I'll need to transplant the heucheras and hostas gradually to new locations as the hydrangea grows. It really is an unintentionally perfect plan. As more shade develops in the rest of the yard I can move the displaced corner shade garden residents to new homes. It also gives me a great opportunity to split and divide them for more plants - you know, I think I like that!


    The air conditioner is a necessary visual abomination in the south. Around here if you don't have AC in the summer...well...let's just say you'll be sipping a lot of ice cold drinks. When I was young in PA AC wasn't a big deal, my grandparents didn't even have it installed in their home and I can't remember if we did either. I have an idea to disguise the AC that is a little different but requires some collecting of old materials. I'll update you when I finally put together my plan.


    It's a little rough around the edges right now. It needs more weeding, edging, and mowing. The great garden to-do list is always growing and ever present.

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